Second on the Mount

Genesis 12:1-4a Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, June 21, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Genesis 12:1-4a Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, June 14, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Matthew 13:10-17 Sermon by Dr. John McCall, guest preacher and our Evening VBS guest speaker, from Sunday, June 7, 2026. "When we live with a nagging fear of scarcity, we really can’t hear God’s voice. When we live under constant pressure of missing out, we have to respond immediately to every sound from our smartphone. But Jesus never seems to be in a hurry. He was never controlled by the tyranny of the moment. In order to see God at work in daily life, in order to tell ordinary stories of God’s spirit at work on the farm, in the store, in our families, Jesus often paused to listen and observe. But in a world of constant stimuli, in a world where we have no peace if our cell phone is not our constant companion… how do we learn to pause and to listen? How do we learn to pause and to see?" Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Romans 12:9-21 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Trinity Sunday, May 31, 2026. "'Bless those who persecute you.' Can we really do that? "This is where Christianity stops being theoretical. Loving people who love us is not especially difficult. Most people can manage that. But praying for people who wound us, refusing retaliation, refusing cruelty, refusing to dehumanize those we oppose, it doesn’t get much more countercultural than that. That kind of living requires transformation. ". . . And that transformation is desperately needed today. Because the world does not need more Christians who merely claim the name of Jesus. The world needs Christians who resemble Jesus. The world needs people who are genuine, who bless instead of curse, who refuse to repay evil for evil, who practice hospitality, who honor others, who overcome evil with good." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ Sung Prayer for Illumination: "Open My Eyes, That I May See." TEXT and MUSIC: Clara H. Scott, 1895. Public domain. CCLI #20105821 | ONE LICENSE, License #A-742472

Acts 2:1-21 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Pentecost Sunday, May 24, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Mark 4:30-32 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, May 17, 2026.  "The greatness of the kingdom is not found in spectacle or domination. Its greatness is found in the life it makes possible… the life it shelters. "Perhaps that is the impressiveness of Jesus himself. We call him 'king,' yet he commands no armies and occupies no palace. Instead, he heals the sick, touches lepers, welcomes the outcast, forgives sinners, feeds the hungry, and announces good news to people who really need to hear some good news. "Jesus teaches people to see differently. To see greatness where others see weakness. To see possibility where others see insignificance." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Mark 4:1-20 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, May 10, 2026.  "In the Bible, the sea is never just water. It is the place where things come undone. And the beach—where land meets sea—is where order meets chaos.  "So, while many of us go to the beach for vacation, Jesus goes to the beach to work.  For where better to do his work than right there at the edge—where things feel like they could come apart?" Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Luke 18:1-8 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, May 3, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Luke 12:13-22 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, April 26, 2026. "The problem is not that the man had a good year. The problem is that he could not imagine that his life still belonged to God. And so his world shrank… to himself. "But when God is present—really present—everything changes. • Abundance becomes opportunity. • Resources become relationships. • And life becomes something to give… not just something to store." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

John 21 (selected verses) Part VIII and conclusion of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, April 12, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

John 20:1-10 Part VII of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026. "We belong here… you and I. • "Whether our faith feels strong or uncertain, • Whether our life feels settled or unresolved, • Whether we are celebrating with confidence, or simply hoping something true might still meet us. "Easter is not just a celebration at the end of a journey. It is a celebration at the beginning, too. "Easter does not require that our faith be complete or our life be resolved. It declares something that is true before we fully understand it: that Christ is risen—for all of us." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

John 18:1-14 Part VI of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, March 22, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Matthew 16:21-27 Part V of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, March 22, 2026. "This rebuke isn’t just for [Peter]. It’s for us—when the path feels too hard. It shows up in small, ordinary moments. "When we know we need to say something that is true— but we soften it so much that it is no longer true anymore. When we need to have a hard conversation— and we keep putting it off. When we sense God calling us to step into something— and we quietly step back instead. When we think we’re being kind— when we’re really just being careful. "Not because we don’t care,           but because it might cost us." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Matthew 16:13-20 Part IV of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock" Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, March 15, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at:https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Matthew 16:13-20 Part III of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, March 8, 2026. "The church is not built on Peter’s person or perfection. It is built on the grace that kept calling Peter back.  • Peter confessed boldly. • He failed publicly. • And he was forgiven again and again. "And that is the kind of church Jesus builds. • A human one. • A community whose Founder already knows we will fail— and still calls us anyway." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Matthew 14:22-33 Part II of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, March 1, 2026. "Let’s return to Peter’s shining moment—the moment when he truly models faithfulness. No, it is not when he steps onto the water. It is when he cries out, 'Lord, save me!' That is where he shines. The moment he knows he cannot save himself.  "Faith is not proven in walking on water. Faith is revealed in knowing whose hand to grasp when you begin to sink." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Luke 5:1-11 Part I of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock" Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, February 22, 2026. "Simon is not exaggerating here. He is simply telling the truth. His truth. The truth of someone who has reached the limit of his own capacity. 'Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.' I can imagine Simon leaving a pregnant pause, hoping Jesus would say, 'No worries. I know you’re tired. We can pick this up another time.' But he didn’t. Nothing was said. Nothing was shared, except a gaze that lingered between Jesus and Simon, a gaze penetrating and inviting—penetrating Simon’s heart and inviting his soul. "Then, out of the heavy silence, Simon adds five words that change everything." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Romans 7:7-25 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, February 15, 2026. "You already belong to Christ. He loves you. You love him. You already stand in communion with the One whose heart is aligned with the Father’s. "Stay there. Even if you are well aware of how far short you fall, stay there! Don’t have a spiritual affair with some other social, political or personal ideology. Stay in relationship with the Jesus of the Gospels. Because over time, remaining with Jesus changes you. His love changes how you love, and what once looked beautiful to you but is ugly in his eyes… begins to lose its shine. Revenge becomes thin. Reconciliation becomes radiant. Cruelty looks ugly, Kindness looks lovely. Power looks smaller. Peace looks stronger. "Desire is not converted by force. It is converted by fellowship. "And that is why Paul can move from, 'Wretched man that I am,' to 'Thanks be to God.'" Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Genesis 1:1-25 (summarized), 26-27 From Youth Sunday, February 8, 2026. Sermons by graduating seniors Ryan I'Anson (3:34) and Madelyn Lyons (11:42). Our Youth Group theme for the year is "Nurture Your Nature." May God's spirit remind you of who you are, that you might come to know more fully the love of God by which you were made.

Micah 6:1-8 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, February 1, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Psalm 121, Matthew 19:13-25 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, January 25, 2026. "God guards not only our bodies, but our identities. God holds not only our actions, but our worth. In a culture that says we are what we achieve, what we post, and how we compare, the church dares to speak a deeper truth: We are God’s children. We are held. We are known. And we are loved." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

John 1:29-42 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, January 18, 2026. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

John 15:12-17 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Confirmation Sunday, January 11, 2026. "What can be shocking today is when realize that Jesus wants us to be his friend. The kind of friend who speaks for him, acts on his behalf, and bears his love into the world even when it is uncomfortable, inconvenient, or risky. It means going to the places he went, welcoming the people he welcomed. It means not embarrassing his reputation by speaking and acting in selfish, cruel, unkind, or prejudicial ways and then pretending that this is what Jesus would do. "I want you to think about that, because Jesus is asking you to be his friend." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Colossians 3:1-17 *Sermon title comes from James K. A. Smith’s book, You Are What  You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, published in 2016. Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, January 4, 2026. "Friends, we worship today at the beginning of a new year. And we do so in anxious and uncertain days – days when many voices compete for our allegiance, our attention, and our trust. Knowing this, may we be a community that helps one another notice what we’re swimming in, and gently points one another back to Christ. May we be a community that bears with one another when it’s hard, that forgives when it would be easier to walk away, that sings the songs of Zion together, especially in a foreign place, until they begin to sound more familiar than the noise around us." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Matthew 25:31-46 Part VI of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from the First Sunday of Christmas, December 28, 2025. "There is a temptation to sentimentalize the Christmas season—to wrap it in nostalgia and soft lighting and comforting music. But Jesus won’t let us do that because Christmas has consequences. Christmas, at its heart, is the declaration that God has chosen to be found not in power, but in presence. Not in domination, but in dignity. Not in abstraction, but in flesh and blood. If God has truly taken on human flesh, then every human body matters. Every person is an image bearer. Every life carries divine weight. "The Word became flesh—and that flesh looks like you and me and the neighbor who needs help today. This is not an easy truth. It disrupts our assumptions about who is deserving and who is not. It challenges the narratives we tell ourselves about poverty, incarceration, addiction, immigration, and illness. Jesus does not ask us to decide whether the person who is hungry earned their hunger or the person in prisoner earned their sentence. He simply says, 'That’s where I am.'" Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Luke 2:1-20, John 1 Part V of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Luke 1:26-38, I John 4:7-12 Part IV of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 21, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Isaiah 35:1-10, Luke 2:8-20 Part III of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from the Third Sunday of Advent, December 14, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 3:1-6 Part II of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from the Second Sunday of Advent, December 7, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Isaiah 11 (selected verses), Luke 1 (selected verses) Part I of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2025. "No matter where we are or how we feel this Advent Sunday, God is still telling the same story: • Hope doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. • Hope grows in unexpected places. • Hope shines through ordinary things touched by love. • Hope is God’s quiet, stubborn insistence that the story is not over." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Luke 23:33-43 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Christ the King Sunday, November 23, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

II Corinthians 1:3–7 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, November 16, 2025. • "Sometimes encouragement looks like holding someone steady when they cannot hold steady themselves. • "Sometimes it looks like absorbing the angry words of another without firing back—letting them sit with what they said without the comfort of your having said worse. • "Sometimes it looks like sitting in a hospital room and saying nothing because nothing can be said that will help. • "Sometimes it looks like offering a small word of support that helps another keep going during a very bad day. • "And sometimes it looks like being the one person who doesn’t walk away when others do. "This is the ministry Paul is naming—the ministry of presence that draws its strength from the God who is present with us. The God who in Jesus Christ stepped into our sorrow and our joy, into our failures and our hope, into our living and even into our dying." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

John 14:1-3 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from All Saints' Sunday, November 2, 2025. "Jesus comforts his disciples with the promise that he goes to prepare a place for them—but even more, that his Spirit will dwell within them now. To be a resurrection people is to live in the current of that coming world— • to forgive,  • to create,  • to mend what is broken,  trusting that God’s life is already flowing downstream through us. Every act of compassion, every choice for justice, every word of mercy—that is resurrection life spilling downstream." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/  

I Samuel 8:4-22, Galatians 1:6-9 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, October 26, 2025. "Young People—feeling the pressure to keep up, to prove yourselves, to stay relevant. Remember, your worth is not measured by speed, likes, or novelty. You are loved by God, fully and unconditionally. Creativity is a gift, not a requirement. "Workers—those working in offices, shops, schools, factories or at home, who are asked to adapt constantly, to innovate on demand. Rhythms of prayer, worship, and Sabbath can restore what the world drains. "Parents and caregivers—juggling the endless demands of home and work: You cannot do everything. Grace meets you in ordinary acts of love, which shape lives more profoundly than any trend. "Retired or Older Adults—who may feel overlooked in a culture obsessed with youth: Your wisdom, presence, and memory of what is true and what sustains, are invaluable. You can guide and sustain younger generations. "No matter our age or work status, God’s grace sustains us. God helps us live in a world of rapid change without being consumed by it. We create, we learn, we innovate—but always from a place rooted in God’s steadfast love." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Luke 17:11-19 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Preschool Sunday, October 19, 2025. "It’s what Jesus does over and over again. He gathers the ones we’ve been taught to fear or exclude. He restores a body, and also a community. He returns dignity, identity, and participation. And he says, in every way that matters, you belong. "In a world where exile, in one way or another, touches nearly all of us, this is good news. And it’s the same, surprising, good news he gives to exiles in Babylon: 'Seek the welfare—the shalom—of the place where I have sent you, for in its shalom you will find your own.' "This is what Jesus offers—not just healing, but shalom. Not just survival, but salvation. Not just being made clean but being made whole.  "The question for us is: how do we respond to such incredible grace?" Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

John 1:6-9, II Corinthians 4:5-7 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Commitment Sunday, October 12, 2025. "The one essential fact about light is that it is separate from what bears it.  • The light of the sun isn’t the sun itself.  • The light of a fire isn’t the wood that burns.  • Even the glow from a candle or a bulb isn’t the wax or the filament.  "Paul echoes the same truth in his own way. He’s not speaking of John, but of all of us who call ourselves Christians. He is even speaking of every congregation: 'We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus as Lord… We have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power to save is of God and does not come from us.' "We are not the flame—we are the candle. We are not the light—we are the lantern. "That’s worth thinking about as a congregation on Commitment Sunday." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Luke 5:27-32, 17:7-10 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from World Communion Sunday, October 5, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

***This sermon was originally intended to be a visual experience. We encourage you to watch the original live streamed recording of this sermon on YouTube.*** Video: "The Light We Shine" Thank you to Andrea Boone, Jane Winders Frank, Ginger Poole Avis, and the wonderful staff and technicians at Mill Mountain Theatre. . . .  Matthew 5:14-16 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 28, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Mark 1:21-39, Acts 17: 24-28 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, September 21, 2025. "You are the living church when you forgive in a culture of vengeance. You are the living church when you speak truth in the face of lies. You are the living church when you love your neighbor more than your comfort. You are the living church when you sow compassion in a world that rewards cruelty. You are the living church when you refuse to bow to fear and choose hope and generosity instead. "This is what it means to pray and live “Thy kingdom come.” May we follow Christ even when it leads us beyond the maps. May we be the living church in a world that needs it now more than ever." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Isaiah 53:2-3, Philippians 4:8 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 14, 2025. "In the aftermath of [Charlie Kirk's] shooting—as with so many other publicized acts of violence, and the countless unseen ones—we all should be asking ourselves: Do our words carry the same ugliness we say we condemn and are we contributing to this dangerous climate? "Whether you're a leader, a public voice, someone on X, or with a Facebook page, or an Instagram account, or a loud voice in the neighborhood or at the dinner table— If you speak of those you disagree with as enemies… If you repeat wild claims that stoke fear and cast others as villains… If you talk like a war is starting… You’re not calling out violence. You’re contributing to it. "...I don’t want to preach a gospel that takes partisan sides and becomes another form of ugliness. I want to preach the beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ—the one who absorbed the world’s ugliest violence and answered it with love, grace, and peace." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Exodus 14:10-16 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, September 7, 2025. "The ways in which God is calling you to show your faith might surprise you. It might require courage. It might require you to risk comfort and convenience for the sake of love. It might require you to silence the bickering noise of the world and courageously take one step forward—and then maybe another." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Matthew 4:1-11 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, August 31, 2025. "The temptations Jesus faces may sound distant from our lives—turning stones to bread, leaping from a tower, bowing to the devil—but what they represent is very real, and just as present in Roanoke as they were in the wilderness. . . . Just as a tuning fork causes an internal string to vibrate, these three temptations strike chords within us as they did with Jesus—our desires, our fears, our arrogant self-righteousness, our certainties, our longings for significance, control, or reassurance." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Matthew 5:13-16 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from our Rally Day Picnic on Sunday, August 24, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Scripture: Luke 12:49-53 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, August 17, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"By Faith" – Hebrews 11:1-10, 12:1-2 Sermon by Nancy O. Gray, Parish Associate for Visitation, from Sunday, August 10, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"The Armor of God" – Ephesians 6:10-20 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, August 3, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"Grace in Letting Go" – John 12:20-26, Philippians 3:7-14 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, July 27, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"Why?" – Luke 13:1-9 Sermon by Nancy O. Gray, Parish Associate for Visitation, from Sunday, July 20, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"God's Consolation" – II Corinthians 1:3-7 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, July 13, 2025. "Your self is a good gift. It helps you dream, build, grow and relate, live your life. But it’s a perishable item. "Thank God you are not just a self with a shelf-life. You are a soul—named, known, and beloved, not because of what you do, but because of who God is. "And when the self is lost, the soul remains. That… is God’s consolation." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"Burdensome Work" – Galatians 6:1-16 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, July 6, 2025. "The life of faith was never meant to be lived in silos of self-sufficiency. It is a web of interdependence—each carrying their own load, yes, but never bearing the overwhelming burdens alone. But this burdensome work isn’t limited to individuals. Paul’s letter is saturated with communal responsibility. He says, 'Whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all.' Not just for the insiders. Not just for the ones who fit the mold. . . . Not just for those who carry the right label or check the right theological or political boxes. For the good of all." Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/